Smoked Trout Dip – Sparkling or Still Wine?

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Champagne:  Gaston-Chiquet Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs d’Aÿ Brut NV

Prosecco:  Bisol Crede 2016

Chardonnay:  Schug Sonoma Coast 2017

Salt:  an essential element to maintaining human health, a food preservative, a moisture extractor, a grease fire extinguisher, and the world’s most common seasoning. “Where would we be without salt?” said James Beard.

Samin Nosrat, author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat succinctly explains why it is the most-loved seasoning: “Salt minimizes bitterness, balances out sweetness and enhances the flavors of other ingredients, (thereby) heightening our experience of eating.” 

As much as we love salt, we know we shouldn’t overreach. Yet we all have our guilty pleasures; and for us, the allure of a salty snack when enjoying a pre-dinner cocktail or glass of wine is simply irresistible.

The snack at the top of our list is this Smoked Trout Dip. We call it the kryptonite of salty snacks:  all who taste it are powerless to say “no” to more.

The internet is rife with smoked trout dip recipes, all based on mayonnaise or cream cheese.  Sure, they’re easy to assemble . . . but most are forgettable: one-half notch above a bowl of Beer Nuts. No, we think you want to serve something special and memorable. While this recipe, adapted from Stuart Brioza’s recipe in Food & Wine (see below), uses mayo as a base, the differentiating feature is the addition of a vinaigrette. The idea is to grab (or spoon) a bit of vinaigrette when you dip your chip. The vinaigrette delivers a burst of sherry vinegar and onion crunch – perfect foils for the salty, smoky trout flakes.

This Smoked Trout Dip is quite wine-friendly, as long as it’s white wine. Tannins and oak from red wine will clash with the salt and oil in the recipe. Generally speaking, white wines rich in acidity provide the best complement to the dip.

Champagne and sparkling wine, perfect with fried chicken as well as salty popcorn, work beautifully with this dip for the same reasons:  salt and oil beg for higher acid white wines. Our go-to Champagne is a non-vintage Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs d’Aÿ Brut from Gaston-Chiquet ($59).

This Blanc de Blancs d’Aÿ is blended exclusively from Chardonnay grapes grown by Gaston-Chiquet in an area known for red grapes:  the vineyards around the village of Aÿ in the Champagne region.  Aged on the lees for 3 years on average, this sparkler serves up a lovely mousse with a vibrant yellow hue. The nose is redolent of pineapple, citrus and grapefruit, while the finish allows the citrus, pear and mandarin orange to linger. An excellent match for the Smoked Trout Dip.

A lower-cost alternative to the Gaston-Chiquet is the Prosecco Brut from Bisol called Crede ($22 for the 2016 vintage).

Prosecco, like Rosé, has been on a tear among US wine drinkers. The Wine Spectator reports that while fewer than 500,000 cases were sold in 2007, Americans bought more than 5.3 million cases of Prosecco in 2017. Surely much of this volume is less-than-dry and best suited for Mimosa’s or as a straight Aperitivo. But Brut Prosecco’s, such as the Bisol Crede, can compete with Champagne as a food-pairing wine. If you’ve not tried Bisol Crede, we encourage you to seek it out.

It always surprises us to meet a guest who doesn’t care for Champagne or sparkling wine. Too bubbly, too dry, too pretentious? Therefore, this post would not be complete without recommending a still wine. Consistent with what we’ve written above, we recommend you stick with Chardonnay . . . and favor one with a round mouthfeel, like many produced in California.

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We recently discovered an excellent value from Northern California – the Schug Sonoma Coast 2017 ($22). The balance of fruit, acid and oak was exceptional for a wine at this price. Wine reviewer Stephen Tanzer described the style as “. . . fleshy but dry, with chewy texture.” This “mouthfeel” and the balance the Schug exhibits makes it ideal for the Smoked Trout.

Were we British, we would conclude by saying “And there we are” . . . an irresistibly delicious Smoked Trout Dip and three outstanding wine-pairing alternatives. The challenge will be knowing when to stop dipping and sipping.